SUMMER IN A GRUENHOUSE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 395 



A SUMJVIER IN A GREENHOUSE AND FLOWER 



GARDEN. 



LE ROY CADY, MINNESOTA SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE. 



My work during this last summer (1898) has been at the experi- 

 ment station, at St. Anthony Park. The work was general but was 

 principally in the greenhouse and about the lawn and flower gar- 

 den. As this was my first experience in this kind of work, I had 

 considerable to learn. Early in the season the work was all in the 

 greenhouse. This greenhouse is heated by its own steam-heating 

 plant, so there was first a furnace to learn to manage. In connec- 

 tion with heating I found that there were apparently two classes of 

 plants, a tropical and a temperate class. The tropical class needed 

 about fifteen degrees more heat than the other, so we had to keep 

 the different houses at different temperatures. In one we kept 

 palms and other tropical plants, in a second the carnations and 

 other temperate plants, and in the third the roses. I found that 

 watering had much to do with successful growing of plants and 

 that it hurt the plant more to over-water than to leave it a little dry. 

 The weather also had much to do with watering. If the day was 

 cool and cloudy it was best to water but very little, but on a clear, 

 bright day the plants needed much more water. Each plant must 

 be considered separately. Some needed much water, while others 

 needed very little. I found that it was best to water plants in the 

 greenhouse in the early part of the day, so that the sun would have 

 time to dry the leaves before night. If some plants, such as roses, 

 were watered late so that the leaves had no time to dry before night, 

 it was apt to cause mildew. Later in the summer, when the plants 

 were planted out, I found that the best time to water was in the 

 evening; and then during the dry weather they should be well 

 watered and left till they needed watering again, I learned that a 

 little water at a time was not nearly as effective as one good heavy 

 watering. As soon as the soil was dry enough to work after water- 

 ing we found it a good plan to cultivate the plant well, for this 

 formed a dust blanket and prevented the water from being evapor- 

 ated as quickly as when the soil was not cultivated. 



The first few weeks of my work in the greenhouse consisted of 

 transplanting seedlings from the seedling pots to small pots. Care 

 had to be exercised in handling these seedlings not to injure them, 

 and in planting to plant them deep enough in the pot and yet not 

 too deep. Care must also be shown in selecting the pots of the 

 right size. If too large a pot is used, the soil is apt to bold more 

 water than is good for the plant, and the plant will not do as well. 

 On the other hand, a plant must not become pot bound, as this also 

 injures much. So in this, as in all the care of plants, the individual 

 must be studied and closely watched to learn the condition under 

 which it does best. 



The plants which were pricked into pots or boxes during the first 

 part of April were the annuals, which were to be used in the flower 

 beds, and the tomatoes for the garden. After pricking the plants 

 into the pots they were shaded from the sun until they were well 



